ORNL's Amit Goyal receives E.O. Lawrence Award

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 28, 2011 — Oak Ridge National Laboratory materials scientist and Corporate Fellow Amit Goyal has been named a winner of the Department of Energy's Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award honoring U.S. scientists and engineers for exceptional contributions in research and development supporting DOE and its mission.

Goyal, who currently chairs the UT-Battelle-ORNL Corporate Fellows Council, is a Battelle Distinguished Inventor whose research has had a profound impact on the field of high-temperature superconductivity, both in fundamental materials science and in the transition of scientific discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace.

"These researchers have made significant contributions to the national, economic and energy security of the United States," Secretary Steven Chu said in announcing the awards. "I congratulate the winners and thank them for their work on behalf of the Department and the Nation."

The award in the inaugural category of Energy Science and Innovation recognizes transformative accomplishments related to DOE's investments in "use inspired" scientific research to develop new understanding, methodologies and materials required to advance, promote, and enable energy innovation. Goyal's award cites his work in "pioneering research and transformative contributions to the field of applied high temperature superconductivity, including fundamental materials science advances and technical innovations enabling large-scale applications of these novel materials."

"Amit's Lawrence Award is extremely well deserved," said ORNL Director Thom Mason. "His materials research activities have made practical use of novel materials such as high-temperature superconductors a reality."

After completing his doctorate in materials science and engineering at the University of Rochester, Goyal joined ORNL in 1991. He also has a master's degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Rochester. He earned a bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and has also received executive business training from the Krannert School of Management, Purdue University and the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Goyal has co-authored more than 350 publications, published over 40 invited papers and book chapters, and has given more than 150 invited presentations in national and international conferences including plenary or keynote presentations. He has more than 50 issued patents and over 20 patent applications pending. A recent analysis of citations and papers published worldwide in the field of high-temperature superconductivity, between 1999-2009, conducted by Thompson-Reuters's Essential Science Indicators (ESI), ranked him as the most cited author worldwide.

Goyal has previously received many national and international awards. Among these are seven R&D100 Awards including the 2010 R&D Magazine's Innovator of the Year Award, three Federal Laboratory Consortium's National Awards, the Distinguished Scholar Medal from the University of Rochester, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Technology Review Magazine's TR-100 Innovator Award, the NASA Techbrief's Nano50 Innovator Award, the Pride of India Gold Award, ORNL Inventor of Year (twice), the Global Indus Technovator Award, DOE's Energy-100 Award and the Lockheed-Martin NOVA Award.

Goyal is a fellow of seven professional societies: the American Association for Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, the World Innovation Foundation, the American Society of Metals, the Institute of Physics, the American Ceramic Society, and the World Technology Network.

Originally from India, Goyal lives in Knoxville with his wife, Sujata, and their two children, Aditya and Divya.

The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award was established in 1959 in honor of the Nobel winning scientist who helped elevate American physics to world leadership. Lawrence's inventions include the cyclotron and the calutron, the latter of which was critical to the success of the wartime Manhattan Project.